Countertop installation day goes smoothly or badly depending almost entirely on what happened in the two weeks before it. Most of the delays we run into are not fabrication problems. They are a sink that arrived late, a cabinet that was not level, or a kitchen that was still full when the crew showed up.
None of that is hard to avoid. Here is exactly what we need from you, when we need it, and what actually happens on the day.
Countertop Template and Install Day: The Three Steps
There are three steps, and only two of them happen at your house.
- Template and demo, on the same day. For a kitchen that usually means the existing tile, backsplash and countertop come out, and then we build a physical pattern off your bare cabinets. If you are putting in new cabinets, there is nothing to demo and we simply template.
- Custom fabrication in our shop. Your slab is laid out, cut, edged and polished to the pattern we took.
- Installation, about seven days after template.
The part most people do not expect: on many kitchens your counters are out for the whole gap between those two visits, not just for installation day. Whether yours have to come out early depends on your layout, and some kitchens can be templated with the existing tops still in place. We will tell you which applies to you at the estimate, before you have to plan around it.
Bathrooms are different. We can usually template a bathroom without demoing anything, so the old vanity top stays in use until installation day. New cabinetry is different too, since there is nothing to remove and that visit is templating only.
Most kitchens run about seven days from template to install. Bathrooms are usually three days. Larger projects take longer, and we will tell you where yours lands before we start rather than leaving you guessing.
Before We Template
This is the visit people underestimate. The template is what your countertops get cut to, so anything that is not finished or not on site at that moment is a problem we cannot solve later in the shop.
Cabinets need to be installed, secured and level
We template off the cabinets, so they have to be in their final position and fastened down. If a base cabinet shifts after we template, the counter will not sit right, and by then the stone is already cut.
Level matters more than people expect. Cabinets that are out of level get shimmed before the tops go on, and it is much easier to sort that out at template than on install day with a crew standing around.
The sink has to be on site
This is the single most common cause of a delayed kitchen, and it is entirely preventable. We cut the opening to your actual sink, not to the dimensions printed in a catalog, because manufacturing tolerances vary between production runs.
Have the sink physically in the house at template. Not ordered. Not shipping. In the house.
The cooktop too, if you are getting one
Same reasoning. A cooktop cutout is cut to the appliance in front of us. If you are doing an invisible induction unit that mounts under the surface, we need to know at template, because that changes how the top gets built.
Faucet and anything else that puts a hole in the stone
Faucet, soap dispenser, air switch, filtered water tap, instant hot. Decide on all of it before we template. Faucet holes are included with your sink cutout at no extra charge, but we need to know how many and where.
Drilling a hole later means bringing equipment back out and working on an installed top, which is never as clean as doing it in the shop.
Backsplash and wall finishes
If you are tiling a backsplash, that comes after the countertops, not before. If you are painting, most people do the first coat before and the touch-up after, which we get into below.
Step One: Demo and Template Happen the Same Day
On many kitchens the existing tile, backsplash and countertop all come out on the same visit as templating. Whether yours needs that depends on the layout, and we will tell you at the estimate rather than leaving you to find out on the day. When it is needed, there is a practical reason for the order. Your new top has to sit against the actual wall and on the actual cabinets, not against a layer of old tile and on top of whatever is there now. Templating first and demoing after would mean building a pattern off surfaces that are about to disappear.
Three things follow from this that catch people off guard.
- When early demo is needed, your counters are gone for the gap between the two visits, about seven days. The sink goes with them, so the kitchen is genuinely out of service, not just inconvenient.
- That visit is a demolition, not a measuring appointment. There is dust and noise, and the wall behind the counter usually needs some repair afterward.
- The counters and base cabinets need to be emptied before that visit, not before installation. Anything hanging on the wall behind the counter needs to come down too.
Bathrooms are the exception. We can usually template a bathroom without removing anything, so you keep the vanity until installation day.
New cabinetry is the other exception. There is nothing of ours to take out, so we simply template once the cabinets are set and level.
What Actually Happens at the Template Visit
We build a pattern of your counters, corner by corner, working off the cabinets as they actually sit rather than off the plans. Walls are rarely square and cabinets are rarely perfect, and the template is how we capture the room as it really is.
While we are there we also confirm the decisions that shape the fabrication.
- Your edge profile. Our standard mitered edge is 1 5/8 inches, which is what roughly eight out of ten customers choose. Two inches and two and a quarter are available.
- Overhangs, and whether any of them need support underneath.
- Sink reveal, meaning how the stone lines up with the bowl.
- Seam locations, if the job needs one.
- Which direction the veining runs, on a material where that matters.
It helps enormously if the person making the final decisions is there. These are quick conversations in person and slow ones over text.
Step Two: Custom Fabrication in Our Shop
Once we template, the job goes into the shop and the stone gets cut. This is the part where changes get expensive, so it is worth knowing what is locked.
What you should not change
Do not move cabinets. Do not swap the sink for a different model. Do not change the faucet to one with a different number of holes. Every one of those means the pieces we already cut no longer fit.
If something genuinely has to change, call us the same day. There is sometimes a window before that piece hits the saw.
What is happening in the shop
Your slab gets laid out first, which is where we decide how the veining runs across each piece and where any seam will fall. Then the pieces are cut on our CNC bridge saw, or on the waterjet where a tighter inside radius is needed, which is most often the case around sink and cooktop openings.
After cutting, the edge is built up and shaped. A mitered edge is two pieces of stone joined at the corner so the counter reads thicker than the slab actually is, and that joint gets polished until it disappears. Then the whole piece is polished, inspected, and staged for delivery.
This is the week you are waiting through, and it is the reason custom work fits your kitchen the way it does.
What you can still do
Paint, order your backsplash tile, sort out your lighting. Anything that does not touch the cabinets or the fixtures going into the stone is fine.
Getting Ready for the Crew
Everything here takes about an hour of your time and saves the crew several. For a kitchen, most of it needs to happen before the demo and template visit, since that is when the counters come out.
Empty the countertops completely
Everything off. Small appliances, canisters, the knife block, whatever lives next to the stove. The crew needs the full surface clear to work.
For a kitchen this needs to be done before the demo and template visit. That is the day the counters leave, so waiting until installation day is a week too late.
Empty the base cabinets
This one gets skipped and it should not. When the old tops come off, dust and debris fall straight down into the cabinets underneath. Clear out at least the top shelf of every base cabinet, and everything under the sink. Again, before the demo visit rather than before installation.
Clear the path
Countertop pieces are heavy, awkward and rigid, and they have to come from the truck to the kitchen in one motion. Move furniture out of the route. If there is a tight turn or a narrow doorway, mention it when we schedule so we can plan for it.
Parking matters too. If your street is tight or the driveway is shared, let us know ahead of time.
Plan for a week without the kitchen
This is the one to take seriously if your kitchen is one that needs the early demo. From the moment we demo until the moment we install, you have no counters and no kitchen sink. That is about seven days. Ask us at the estimate which way your layout goes, because it changes how you plan that stretch.
Set up a temporary station somewhere else in the house for the coffee maker and the microwave. Plan on washing dishes in a bathroom or a laundry sink. Some people schedule the demo for a week they are traveling, or right before a stretch of takeout they were going to do anyway. Whatever you choose, choose it in advance rather than discovering it on day two.
Bathrooms are easier. We can usually template those without removing anything, so the vanity stays usable right up until installation.
Pets and kids somewhere else
There is heavy material moving through open doorways. It is genuinely safer to have dogs closed in another room and kids occupied elsewhere.
Step Three: Installation Day
If anything is still coming out
If your kitchen had the early demo, installation day starts with bare cabinets and we go straight to setting the new tops. If it did not, the old counters come out that morning first. Bathrooms work the same way, with the old vanity top coming off before the new one goes on.
Removal is not a delicate process either way. Old tops are often glued and screwed down, and the drywall behind them can take some damage on the way out, which is normal and is why we mention touch-up paint below.
The new tops go on
The pieces are dry fit first, checked against the cabinets, and shimmed where the cabinets need it. Then they are set and secured. If your job has a seam, the two pieces are pulled tight and the joint is filled with epoxy tinted to your stone.
Overhangs get their support at this stage. If you have a raised bar or an island with real seating overhang, the brackets go in before the stone does.
Plumbing reconnection
Our crew handles the disconnect. On kitchens that get the early demo it happens at that visit rather than at installation, since the sink comes out with the countertop. Reconnection happens separately once the new tops are set and secured. We will walk you through the timing when we schedule so there is no confusion about who is doing what and when.
The First Day After
Give the adhesive time
Avoid putting weight on overhangs and avoid heavy use around the sink for the first day. The epoxy and adhesive continue to cure after we leave.
Sealing
If your material needs sealing, the first seal is included with your installation and is done before we go. After that, sealing is based on how the surface actually gets used rather than a fixed schedule.
The way to check is simple. Leave a small puddle of water on the stone for thirty minutes. If the stone has not darkened when you wipe it up, the seal is doing its job. If it darkens before thirty minutes, it is time to reseal. A heavily used kitchen might want that every six to twelve months. A guest bathroom might go a year or two.
Soapstone is the exception, since it is naturally non-porous and never needs sealing at all.
Touch-up paint
Have your wall paint ready. Between the backsplash demo and removing the old counters, the wall along that line almost always needs some attention, and a quick touch-up after the new backsplash goes in is what makes the whole thing look finished. This is normal and expected, not a sign anything went wrong.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does the whole process take?
Most kitchens are about seven days from template to install. Bathrooms are usually three days. Larger or more complex projects take longer, and we will give you a realistic date up front rather than an optimistic one.
Do I need to be home for the template?
Someone who can make decisions should be there. We confirm your edge profile, overhangs, sink reveal and seam placement during that visit, and those are much easier to settle in person.
Do I need to be home for the install?
Someone should be there at the start and at the end. The middle of the day you can go about your business.
What if my cabinets are not level?
We shim as needed during installation, which is routine. Significant level problems are better identified at template so there is time to address them, which is one more reason to have the cabinets fully installed before we come out.
Can I keep using my kitchen between template and installation?
It depends on your layout, and it is worth asking early. Many kitchens need the counters and sink out at the demo and template visit, which leaves you without them until we install, about seven days. Some layouts let us template with the existing tops still in place, in which case you keep the kitchen until installation day. We will tell you which applies at the estimate. Bathrooms are usually the easy case, since we template those without removing anything.
Will there be a lot of dust?
The cutting and polishing all happen in our shop rather than in your kitchen, so installation day itself is cleaner than people expect. The dusty part is the demo and template visit, when the tile and old counters come out. Clearing the area beforehand and closing off the room makes a real difference.
Do you remove my old backsplash, or do I need someone else for that?
We handle it. On many kitchens the tile, backsplash and existing countertop all come out on the same visit as templating, since the wall and cabinets need to be exposed before we can build an accurate pattern. Some layouts do not require that, bathrooms usually do not need demo before templating, and a kitchen getting new cabinetry has nothing to remove in the first place.
Does it cost more if I am farther away?
No. We charge one rate across all of San Diego County. Where you are does not change what templating or installation costs.
What if I have not picked my slab yet?
Then start there, because the material decision comes before templating. Because we work with a network of partnered showrooms across San Diego County, just call or email us with the material you are looking for and we will direct you to the partnered showroom that has it in stock so you can view the full slab in person.
Ready to Get on the Schedule?
If you know what you want, the next step is a free in-home estimate. We will measure, talk through your edge and your layout, and give you a real timeline for template and installation rather than a guess.
Call us at (619) 202-0017 or email albert@graniteandmarbleconcepts.com and we will find a time that works.
Leave a reply